Can-body-forming machine.



'No. 704,700. Patented July :5; 1902; J. a. H000s0N.

(IAN BODYFURMING MACHINE.

(Ap plication filed Oct. 22, 1900.) v (No Model.) 3 Sheets- Sheet l.

WITNESSES: v I INVENTORY fi: A Tram/E119,

1N0. 704,700. Patented July l5, I902. J. 0, 0000s0u.

CAN BODY FORMING MACHINE.

(Application filed Oct. 22, 1900.\

(No Model.) v 3 Sheets'8heet 2.

WITNESSES I 4% 911V VEN TOR.

CAN RUDY FORMING MACHINE.

. (A lication filed 001;.22, moo. (Ila Med al.) v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

* Patented m l5, i902.

Fiat-5.

I 11- M I i fi a fa J m -ag i v BYWWWM V J I 9% ATTORNEYS,

[NI EN TOR.

TH: uomus PETERS 0a., PKOYO-UTHQ. WASHINGTON, n. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- JOHN G. HODGSON, OF MAYW'OOD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO AMERICAN CAN COMPANY, OF JERSEY- CITY, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CAN -BODY-FORMING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 704,700, dated d'uly 15, 1902,

Application filed October 22, 190i). Serial No. 33,966 (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J can G. HODGSON, a

citizen of the United States, residing in May-' re particularly to improvements upon the ma chines of the kind or class heretofore patented in Letters Patent No. 250,266 to Frank M. Leavitt, dated November 29, 1881, and No. 395,795 to Edwin Norton, dated January 8, 1889. Heretofore in the practical operation of such can-body-forming machines certain slight imperfections or irregularities inthe size of the can-bodies is sometimes produced by slight movements of the blank, which are liable sometimes to occur after the can-bodyforming die lifts the blank from the gages and begins to bend it around the'horn.

The object of my invention'is to provide a simple and efficient means for practically overcoming this dilficultyand securing with certainty the required regularity and uniformity in the sizes of the can-body and at both ends thereof.

My invention consists in the means I have devised for practically accomplishing this result-that is to say, it consists, essentially, in combination with the horn and body-former and the gages or guides upon or by whichthe blank is supported, of a positively-operated '35 clamp within the former which operates to positively and firmly clamp the blank against the horn before the former begins to bendltlie flexible sheet-metal blank around the horn, thus preventing any possibility of the blank 40 moving or turning or getting askew prior to the time when the former itself firmly clamps the blank in position about the horn.

My invention also'consists in the novel devices and in the novel combinations of parts 5 and devices herein'shown and described, and

specified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation of a can-body-forming machine emthus preventing any possibility of the blank blank against the horn by a cam g! on the bodyingmy invention. Fig. 2 is a front View partly in vertical section, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail vertical longitudinal section showing mypositive, blank-clamping mechanism and certain parts of the body-forming machine whichcooperate therewith.

In said drawings, A' represents the frame of the machine. B is the horn about which the sheet-metal blankm is'to be wrapped or formed; O, the gages or guides upon which the blank rests; D, theformer, moving up and down in the guides D and which is adapted to embrace the lower half of the horn and partially bend or fold the blank around the same, and F is a clamp fitting in a groove d in the lower portion of the former and which operatesto clamp the middle portion of the blankpositively and firmly against the 'horn' just before the former D begins to bend theflexible sheet-metal blank about the horn,

7o turning or getting askew at the time it is being first bent and while it is necessarily somewhat loosely held, owing to its flexibility,

between the lower portion of the horn, which it touches on one side, and the two upper outer edges of the former'D, which it touches on the other side. As the former moves upward, lifting the blank from the gages or guides O, the clamp F moves along with the former; but just before the outer edges of the former would begin to bend the blank the upward movement of the clamp F is slightly accelerated, so as to cause the blank to be firmlyand positivelygrasped and clamped between the clamp F and the lower surface gins. The cross-head D upon which the former is carried, is reciprocated as required by means of a cam g on the camshaft Gr through suitableconnecting mechanisn1,pref erably consisting of a slide-g, link 9*, lever g and link g The clamp F is positively operated as required to positively and firmly clamp the cam-shaft G, through the connecting slide or link lever 9 and connecting bars or rods g g which pass through the former D at each end thereof,as will be readily understood from Figs. 3 and 2 of the drawings.

H is a movable support by which the outer end of the horn B is supported while the side seam of the can-body is being bumped or compressed against the horn by the seambumper die K. This support is adjustable by screw-threads in a slide H, which is moved up and down as required by a rocking cam H which is actuated by an arm h, connected by a slotted link k with the former D.

As the general construction and operation of the body-forming machines to which my improvement is applied are well known to those skilled in the art, I have only particularly illustrated in the drawings those parts of the machine necessary for a full and clear understanding of myimprovement. The patents before referred to fully show and describe the other parts of the machine.

I claim 1. Inacan-body-forming machine, the combination with the horn, of a reciprocating canbody former D below the horn and provided with a central groove (1 therein,guides for supporting the blank below the horn and above said former, and a positively-operated independently-reciprocating clamp F within said groove in the former D for firmly and positively clamping the blank against the horn, the upper edges of said former D supporting the blank as it is lifted thereby against the horn, and said clamp F operating to clamp the blank against the horn before the blank is bent about the horn by the further upward movement of said former D, substantially as specified.

2. In a can-body-forming machine, the combination with the horn, of a reciprocating former D below the horn and provided with a central groove (1 therein, guides for supporting the blank below the horn and above the former, and an independently-reciprocating clamp F fitting within said groove in the former, and mechanism for positively operating the clamp to hold the blank rigidly and firmly against the horn, the upper edges of said former D supporting the blank as it is lifted thereby against the horn, and said clamp F operating to clamp the blank against the born before the blank is bent about the born by the further upward movement of said former D, substantially as specified.

3. In a can-body-forming machine, the combination with the horn, of a reciprocating body-former D below the horn provided with a central groove 01 therein, guides for supporting the blank below the horn and above the former, a cam and connecting mechanism for positively reciprocating the former, an inde pendently-reciprocating clamp fitting within said groove in the former D for clamping the blank against the horn,and acam and connecting mechanism for positively operating said clamp, the upperedges of said former D supporting the blank as it is lifted thereby against the horn, and said clamp F operating to clamp the blank against the born before the blank is bent about the born by the further upward movement of said former D, subtantially as specified.

JOHN G. HODGSON.

Witnesses:

EDMUND ADOOCK, H. M. MUNDAY. 

